My birthday was yesterday, so besides being thankful for so many things in my life, I got to be with two of my closest friends from high school and celebrate one of their weddings in Boone. (I am grateful to have seen two Christ-centered weddings the past two weekends. How refreshing to know that despite an impure world, people can still love Jesus and each other, and commit their lives to one another in purity!) It was a beautiful ceremony and there was bluegrass muisc and contradancing at the reception...so much fun! God is so good to be supplying me with time with people I love but rarely see. Congratulations, Emily and Isaac!
I wanted to take advantage of being in the beautiful Boone area today, so besides doing a little shopping in the very cool downtown stores, I drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to find a trail to hike. I ended up going to one I'd been to before, which is great for me since I have a tendency to get lost. A good ways into the 3-mile loop I realized I didn't bring my water bottle along. Even though there's less humidity in the mountains, it's still NC and I was pretty durn hot and parched. So what's a thirsty girl to do but drink from a stream? There's nothing like handfuls of fresh spring mountain water to refresh the body...or should I say, cleanse it. Not more than ten minutes later, my stomach was yelling at me. No biggie, I thought. If I gotta go, I can make it to a gas station on the way home after I enjoy my hike. Nope--no waiting. So there I was, bare-butt off the hiking trail, taking a you-know-what, praying that no one would walk by. I didn't bring any water, much less any sort of paper product to finish the job. But no worries...a couple leaves did the trick nicely. Toilet paper, schmoilet paper. Thank the Lord those leaves weren't poisonous! And it was a close call; probably a minute later, I passed several groups of people. Phew! I enjoyed the remainder of my hike thirsty but pain-free.
It really was a lovely weekend! (Minus..well, you know.) I've been praying for God to prepare me for leaving and adjusting in Bolivia. I got to see some friends I won't see again probably until I get back in the States. And my incident reminded me of what is meant when traveling to other countries by "Don't drink the water." God uses everything for good, right? I still immensely enjoyed the hike, the scenery, and being in nature...just God and me. I hope to take many a hike in the mountains of Bolivia. But then I'll be sure to take along some water.
